Dow falls 345 points, COVID-19 restrictions rising in cities

U.S. stocks closed at the lows of the session, giving up earlier gains, after New York City announced public schools would be closing indefinitely due to rising coronavirus cases. This canceled out more positive news on the vaccine front.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 345 points or over 1% with much of the selling taking place in the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 also dipped by the same amount.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	38028.47	+275.16	+0.73%
SP500	S&P 500	5047	+24.79	+0.49%

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8% but Tesla remained a bright spot after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock citing growth potential beyond autos.

Another Nasdaq entry, Zoom Video Communications reversed its 3% loss on Wednesday on word that the New York City Public Schools announced it will shutter classroom learning and transition to remote learning due to the coronavirus spikes. Shares of Zoom in after hours trading were up nearly 3%.

TESLA IS MUCH MORE THAN AN AUTOMAKER, SAYS MORGAN STANLEY

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	15736.291328	+52.92	+0.34%
TSLA	TESLA INC.	151.24	-4.21	-2.71%
ZM	ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS INC.	60.43	+1.35	+2.29%

Dow member Boeing closed lower, reversing big morning gains after the Federal Aviation Administration approved the planemaker's 737 Max jet to fly again pushing the stock higher. GE shares held onto their gains. There is concern the planemaker may face some obstacles getting the jet back in service quickly.

FAA CLEARS BOEING'S MAX JET TO FLY AGAIN

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BA	THE BOEING CO.	171.64	+1.45	+0.85%
GE	GE AEROSPACE	157.57	+1.92	+1.23%

COVID-19 VACCINE LATEST

Pfizer shares rose after it announced a 95% efficacy rate in its Phase 3 trial for its COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier this month, it said it had a 90% efficacy rate for the first 94 patients.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
PFE	PFIZER INC.	25.39	-0.03	-0.12%
BNTX	BIONTECH SE	86.10	-0.30	-0.35%

RETAIL ON TAP

Target shares rose more than 4% after the Walmart competitor said it earned $2.79 a share on $22.34 billion in sales, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 on $20.93 billion in sales in its most recent quarter.

Lowe's, which competes with Home Depot in the home improvement space, fell after it reported $1.98 a share on $21.17 billion in sales. Traders were expecting earnings of $1.99 a share on $21.25 billion in revenue, up 22.2% year-over-year.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
LOW	LOWE'S COMPANIES INC.	230.62	+1.76	+0.77%
TGT	TARGET CORP.	166.85	+2.34	+1.42%
TJX	THE TJX COS. INC.	93.48	+0.38	+0.41%

TJX Co. also moved higher after the discount retailer earned 71 cents a share on $10.12 billion in revenue. Traders expected TJX to earn 40 cents a share on $9.36 billion in sales.

S&P TAKES BREATHER AS SMALL CAPS, TRANSPORTS HIT RECORDS

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
NVDA	NVIDIA CORP.	851.82	+11.47	+1.36%
L	LOEWS CORP.	74.17	+1.04	+1.42%

After the market closes, semiconductor giant Nvidia and L Brands are among the companies reporting their latest results.

FRESH LOOKS AT HOUSING, CRUDE OIL

Several economic reports tied to the U.S. housing markets were released, showing the continued strength of the sector.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TOL	TOLL BROTHERS INC.	115.83	+2.42	+2.13%
DHI	D.R. HORTON INC.	151.26	+5.52	+3.79%
MTG	MGIC INVESTMENT CORP.	19.61	+0.21	+1.11%
LEN	LENNAR CORP.	155.74	+3.86	+2.54%

Mortgage applications for the week ending Nov. 14 fell 0.3%, while U.S. housing starts and building permits for October came in at 1.53 million and 1.54 million, respectively.

The Energy Information Administration said crude oil stocks rose 768,000 barrels, well below the estimate of a jump of 1.65 billion barrels. After the weekly inventory report, crude oil rose on Wednesday to $41.82 a barrel, a gain of nearly 1%.

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GOLD DIPS

In other commodities, cold declined to $1,873.50 an ounce.

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Chris Ciaccia contributed to this report.